FIBA U18 Afrobasket: J’Tigress battle Egypt again for semifinals ticket

Nigeria’s women’s U18 team, J’Tigress will be hoping to extract their pound of flesh and qualify for the FIBA U18 Afrobasket semifinals when they face Egypt Wednesday evening.

The quarterfinal tie is a repeat of their Group Phase opener against Egypt. Their first meeting ended 72-60, the North Africans exploding for a 22-12 second quarter that settled the matter as Nigeria were unable to mount a comeback.

The J’Tigress will be banking on one of their players, Idubamo Beggi, who has been voted one of the 10 most outstanding players of the group phase, to secure a semifinals ticket.

Beggi, according to FIBA website, leads the J’Tigress in efficiency, points and assists. She has scored 19.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5 assists as the side won 1 of their 3 matches but managed to score enough for a best third-placed team slot.

She has hit double digits on points in all 3 matches, scoring 23 against Egypt, 20 against Zimbabwe and 16 in 28 minutes against Uganda.

While the Nigerians lost two of their group games to Egypt (72-60) and Uganda (80-64), they managed to qualify after beating Zimbabwe, the weakest team of the group 107-30.

Egypt on the other hand won all three games but, despite heading to the quarterfinals unbeaten, the Pharaohs have a battle in containing a Nigerian side that seems to be playing better with each match.

Winner of the game in Pretoria, South Africa will qualify for the semifinal and move a step closer to becoming one of the two teams that will represent Africa at the FIBA U